Fred Deutsch

On concerns about hyperscale data centers

For District 4, this question directly applies to the Applied Digital data center that was proposed near Toronto in southern Deuel County. Constituents expressed concern about power and water draw, noise from cooling systems, and whether Toronto's small volunteer fire department could have handled a facility that large. People felt steamrolled too, with folks telling SDPB they had little real say while the deal took shape. There was a fairness question as well, why one out-of-state developer should get decades of tax exemptions other taxpayers don't get. When the legislature declined the sales tax exemption, Applied Digital said the project "doesn't make sense at this time" and let its land agreement lapse. That proposal is now off the table, but the underlying worry that AI and its infrastructure are moving faster than our laws, continues to be a concern.

How they’d address those concerns

I supported Senate Bill 135, the Data Center Bill of Rights, now law in South Dakota, putting guardrails in place to protect our electric grid and natural resources. These standards require companies to pay for their own electric infrastructure, disclose and get local sign-off on water use, and ensure they don't pass increased utility costs onto South Dakota families. I also backed rejecting the 50-year tax break Applied Digital wanted, since I didn't believe the scale of the exemption was fair to Deuel County. If a similar proposal returns, I'll weigh it fairly. What matters most is local people need a seat at the table, there has to be transparency up front, local control over siting, and costs that land on the company, not on citizens. Beyond datacenter infrastructure, AI is already touching daily life in South Dakota, and we have few rules in place. I'm working on three bills for the 2027 Session: a Chatbot Minor-Safety Act stopping AI companion apps from manipulating kids into secrecy; extending SB 164's deepfake protections to cover minors bullied with fabricated images; and a Clinical AI Disclosure Act requiring patients be told when AI was used to shape a major healthcare decision. AI isn't going away. My job is making sure families are protected and a real say.